January 20, 2026 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Tuesday, January 20, 2026

January 20, 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 12:07 PM :: 250 Views

LISTEN LIVE: U.S. Supreme Court hears Hawaii Second Amendment case Today

Hawaii is 3rd Worst State to Start a Business

Applicants Wanted for State Ethics Commission

State Sitting on $118M in illegal special funds

SA: … there supposedly is not enough money in the budget for $1.8 billion in spending that is allegedly needed between fiscal years 2027 and 2031.

But that could be a false assumption. Before hitting the pause button on historic tax cuts that are eventually expected to save Hawaii residents more than $7 billion, state lawmakers should first look for savings in the current budget.

A good place to start would be the state’s many special, revolving and trust funds, which collectively are anticipated to hold more than $5 billion in the upcoming budget year.

Cleaning up these funds might not make up for all the proposed new spending, but it could provide several hundred million dollars toward covering that gap. Doing so sooner rather than later would also give lawmakers time to identify other cuts.

For instance, the Legislature could closely examine the funds the state Office of the Auditor has already recommended be abolished or reclassified for being illegally established or used.

In its most recent department reviews, the auditor’s office identified more than 90 funds that fell into this category. According to departmental reports, these funds will hold in fiscal 2027 an estimated cash balance of at least $118 million….

SA: Editorial: Hawaii Legislature must cut path to sensible budget | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

read … Column: Tamp down special funds, not tax cuts | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Council members who nixed pay raises are now collecting 6-figure salaries

SA: ... Three Honolulu City Council members who rejected a contentious 64% pay increase for the nine- member panel nearly three years ago now annually draw six-figure, city-funded salaries, city pay documents state.

Council members Radiant Cordero and Augie Tulba currently earn $122,064 per year. Council Vice Chair Andria Tupola receives $113,304 annually, city documents indicate.

But in June 2023, Cordero, Tulba and Tupola — who’d vocally rejected the controversial raise at Council meetings and drafted accompanying legislation against it too — each submitted a required memorandum to the city stating their formal rejections to higher pay for their public service.

At the time, the trio demanded to keep their Council pay at $68,904.…

read … Council members who nixed pay raises are now collecting 6-figure salaries | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Game Changer? Free Medical Flights Start for Some Neighbor Island Residents

CB: … Hawai‘i needs to grow its supply of doctors by about 23% to meet patient demand, according to a 2025 annual report that tracks the state’s medical professional needs. On Moloka‘i, the physician workforce needs to grow by 83%....

Ozaki tells the story of a Moloka‘i resident on a waitlist for a kidney transplant who finally got the call he was hoping for late last year.

A kidney was available. But there was a problem. Commercial flights from Moloka‘i, where the patient resides, to Honolulu, where the organ donor died, were booked out for days. Kidneys typically survive outside a donor’s body for no more 36 hours.

ERMAT project coordinators put the patient on a charter flight — an early test of the program. The patient landed in Honolulu in time to receive the life-saving transplant, Ozaki said.

The program also recently worked with Mokulele Airlines to create an open seat on a fully booked commercial flight for a Moloka‘i patient with broken ankles and heels who had waited three weeks to see an orthopedic surgeon in Honolulu due to shortage of open seats on the airline…

The program will charge physicians who use the service a discounted rate of $200 roundtrip to stay competitive with commercial airline ticket rates.

“A lot of providers want to provide care here,” Ozaki said, “but they don’t because they can’t risk the unreliable transportation factor.” …

read … Game Changer? Free Medical Flights Start For Some Neighbor Island Residents - Honolulu Civil Beat

Slow Development Approvals Cause ‘Pockets of Squalor’ in Waikiki

CB: … redevelopment projects can take a long time to realize….

step across Kūhiō, and Kalaimoku is far from posh. The street is lined with vacant lots and buildings, their windows blinded by plywood. One ramshackle structure at the end of the block has been a blight for neighbors and city officials for more than a decade.

The scene strikes neighborhood residents like Indra Erne as bizarre.

“It’s strange,” said Erne, a 58-year-old retired media executive who was at Dean & Deluca on a recent morning buying coffee and croissants for his wife’s birthday breakfast. “You’ve got this one luxury block, and the rest is crap.”

The crappy side of Kalaimoku Street underscores a reality of Hawaiʻi’s tourism center: For all of its luxury boutiques and resorts with infinity swimming pools and spas catering to monied visitors, Waikīkī still has its share of squalor….

read … City Has Few Options To Address Pockets Of Squalor In Waikīkī - Honolulu Civil Beat

The Maui County Board Of Ethics Has Been Transformed

CB: … The improvements since executive director Lauren Akitake came aboard in August have been the most significant in the board’s history….

read … The Maui County Board Of Ethics Has Been Transformed - Honolulu Civil Beat

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